“As the deal came to a close, Mark and Kevin sat outside and ate
steaks and ice cream, while the lawyers all sat inside watching
‘Game of Thrones,’ ” an unnamed source who was present at
the talks told the New York Times:

It wasn’t lost on those there, this person said, that “two
20-somethings were alone hammering out the terms of the deal.”

The Instagram deal underscored how Mr. Zuckerberg has cemented
his power over the last eight years. Facebook’s board, which got
a brief e-mail about the deal a few days before it was announced,
according to those close to the company, never pushed back.

Zuckerberg has time and again proven himself a shrewd negotiator
who is mostly concerned with keeping the lawyers out of the
way. “We don’t need to get any lawyers involved. Let’s just
talk alone," he'll tell companies he wants to acquire over the
phone, according ot the New York Times.

He mostly keeps investors out of the conversation, according to
the report:

“Mark will convince companies he is going to acquire that they
should accept a deal on a projected valuation,” says one C.E.O.
who held talks with Mr. Zuckerberg. “Then, he’ll go back to
investors who want to put money into Facebook and say, look, this start-up was going
to join us at this valuation, so you should invest at that
number.”